In the Mykolaiv region, the authorities distributed budget funds to businesses but concealed the winners

They talk about openness, but hide the main thing: who received taxpayers’ money

On Friday, 15 May, in the Mykolaiv region the first competition of 2026 among representatives of small and medium-sized businesses took place to receive financial support from the regional budget. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of the deputy head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration Mykola Marinov.

In total, 14 entrepreneurs submitted applications, working in various sectors — from agriculture and automotive transport to leather processing and other activities.

Based on the results of the competition commission, 11 enterprises were selected as winners. Each of them is to receive up to 200 thousand hryvnias for the purchase of equipment, machinery and other fixed assets to develop production, provide services, or perform work. According to the organizers’ plan, the financial support should help entrepreneurs increase their workloads and create new jobs.

Explaining changes in the competition rules, Mykola Marinov stated that this year they decided to change the approach to evaluating participants.

“We have introduced a rating system for evaluating applications, which will allow winners to be determined more transparently and fairly. We have also expanded participation opportunities for small businesses and provided new mechanisms to support entrepreneurs”

The official also emphasized that support is planned to be provided to entrepreneurs from different communities of the region and that emphasis will be placed on businesses that create jobs.

“We aim for the support program to cover as wide a range of entrepreneurs from all districts of the region as possible. We pay special attention to businesses that create new jobs and develop the economies of communities”

However, after statements about openness a logical question arises. In the announcement of the Mykolaiv OVA they did not name any of the 11 enterprises that will receive funding from the budget.

They also did not publish the ranking table, the number of points scored, or the evaluation results for each participant. In fact, the public was shown only general figures and informed about the mere fact of the allocation of funds.

So the question remains open: if the system really became more transparent, why isn’t its concrete result and those who received budget money shown to the public?

The meeting was also attended by the director of the Department of Economic Development and Regional Policy Oleksandr Korolov, the head of the Regional Fund for Entrepreneurship Support in the Mykolaiv Oblast Volodymyr Yevseyev, the deputy head of the Mykolaiv Regional Council Denys Andriyev, representatives of the banking sector and relevant structures.

Earlier we wrote:

• Mykolaiv region announced a competition for entrepreneurs: up to 200,000 UAH for equipment
• Germany allocates 30 million euros to restore Ukrainian business
• Officials divided our taxes: entrepreneurs of Mykolaiv region will receive 10 million from the budget
• The state will help businesses affected by shelling to recover: who and how much can receive funds
• The state compensates business expenses: up to 200,000 UAH to entrepreneurs of Mykolaiv region